Friday 10th December 2021 - Yarrells School
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Friday 10th December 2021 Dear Parents, As I write, the joyous sound of senior Christmas parties can be heard across the site! There has been much cracker pulling (eco-friendly, naturally), Christmas lunch eating, carol singing, party game playing and A LOT of exuberant dancing! It has been wonderful to close the term in such a celebratory way – even our diminutive number of Year 3 pupils have managed to have a little celebration despite being without their mildly Covid-afflicted peers. We sang ‘We wish you a Merry Christmas!’ as loudly as we could so they might hear... Yesterday evening, we closed our series of formal Christmas events with a lovely concert at Wimborne Minster. It was a significant moment for us all as the senior school community came together in celebration for the first time at the Minster in 2 years, with super performances from the senior music groups - the staff choir even put in an appearance, too! Music brings people together and is not only a way of conveying a narrative, but is also an expression of shared emotion. To be able to sing together and listen to the thoughtful readings by our pupils was an emotional experience for many of us and the evening gave me cause to reflect on how fiercely I believe in the importance of a protected educational space for children to grow and develop. I spoke at a number of our events last week about how our children have got used to things being cancelled and my worry that this has affected their sense of anticipation and looking forward to exciting events. This week, we heard on the radio a series of interviews with education and childhood specialists about the crisis of child development and how much the events of the past eighteen months have affected children’s progress, their well-being and indeed their experience of childhood itself. I was struck by one professor stating that the increased use of devices for communication has had a profound impact upon young children’s ability to communicate and interact in the real world. I’d like to be able to say that at Yarrells, we have been able to completely protect your children from this negative impact upon their childhood, but in all honesty, I can’t - the events of the past eighteen months have affected all children negatively in some way and, as I have said before to many of you many times, some of these effects are, as yet, not fully known. What I can say, with honesty and with pride, is that we have striven to minimise the negative impact of the events of the last eighteen months: we have just the most wonderful community of people at Yarrells, by whom your children are surrounded, and they have a happy and enriching environment in which to grow and flourish. Where we have seen tentative communication and anxiety around interaction with our youngest children, we have worked gently and sensitively to build trust and confidence with fabulous results – all our two-year olds are settled and have adjusted to Nursery life so Yarrells School & Nursery Page 1 of 8 Friday 10th December 2021
well. We have enhanced our facilities and resources to encourage a growth mindset and the development of a love
of curious exploration, and this has helped interaction enormously too.
Our older children started the academic year having enjoyed a return to relative normality in the summer, and we have
striven to keep that normality going for as long as humanly possible with only one event needing to be postponed at the
end of term owing to Coronavirus. Watching the children engage in stimulating and challenging learning activities across
the curriculum, zooming out of school for trips off site, racing around in sports training sessions and fixtures – the list is
endless – has given me cause to believe that we have protected the educational space, that we have given your children as
many opportunities as possible and that we have done all this in an environment that is filled with warm relationships,
laughter and support. I believe all the staff at Yarrells can look back at the autumn term knowing it’s been a job well done.
Goodbye and Good Luck!
Today, we say a fond farewell to our fantastic marketing assistant, Kristal Bowdler, who has been with Yarrells for just over nine
years. It is hard to imagine life at school without her as Kristal is an old Yarrellian (St Monica’s) herself and both her daughters
came to Yarrells for their prep years. When I joined Yarrells, I was so grateful to have a superb assistant with whom to work that
knew the school inside out and understood the importance of our gorgeous childhood space. She has created the most wonderful
website, is the designer behind our weekly newsletters as well as all the ad campaigns we run, has filmed numerous productions
and Nativities – you name it, she's done it! She will, as you can imagine, be very sorely missed.
Kristal's other love, apart from Yarrells, is horses and it is this that is drawing her away from the marketing role with us. We wish
her enormous good luck for her future role at her local riding stables – they are very lucky to be getting a fabulous marketing
lead!
We should like to thank Kristal for the tireless work she has done over the years to keep Yarrells prominent in the marketplace,
but also for her lovely comradeship and friendliness as a colleague. All the very best, Kristal.
We also say goodbye to Miss Lyddiatt, another old Yarrellian, who has been with us for a term as a teaching assistant. We thank
Miss Lyddiatt for her care of the children in the time she has been with us and wish her all the best for her return to teaching in
Brighton in the New Year.
I have been enormously grateful for your support and confidence in Yarrells and I hope you are all able to take a well-
deserved rest with your delightful children over the Christmas break. We will return with a spring in our step in
January, 2022, ready to launch into the term ahead with zest and excited anticipation!
Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
All the very best,
Year 8
Sally Weber
Head wish you
all a very
Merry
Christmas!
Yarrells School & Nursery Page 2 of 8 Friday 10th December 2021
Yarrells School Spring Term Dates
Staff Day – Tuesday 4th January
Staff Day – Wednesday 5th January
Term Begins – Thursday 6th January
Half Term – Monday 21st to Friday 25th February
Term Ends – Thursday 31st March
Thank you for your generosity
NUTKINS: Eliza S Charles A
So far, we have raised:
SQUIRRELS: Esme S George S
RECEPTION: Bonnie S Eddie M
YEAR 1: Sylvie K Mirabella B £350.40
YEAR 2: Joey O
YEAR 3: Sebastian N Grace H from our show collections and today’s
YEAR 4: Millie B Oliver N Christmas Jumper Day. We will be
YEAR 5: Lucas C Marla F adding to this total from yesterday’s
concert at Wimborne Minster.
YEAR 6: Sienna H Bess B-M
YEAR 8: Scarlet G
Thank you!
Yarrells Christmas Cards 2021 Mrs K Richmond
Congratulations to Saffie Chewins (Y8) and William Hall (1D) whose Christmas
card designs won the official Yarrells competition. Ms Weber narrowed them
down from a fantastic field of entries. Ms Weber said,
“Enormous congratulations to William and Saffie for their
winning Christmas card designs which are winging their way to you all in the
post as we write! We loved their
striking designs and hope they feel
suitably proud of themselves: well
done!
William
Hopefully you have now all received your orders and are busy writing your own
cards. Thank you for your continued support, we raised a massive £460 for the
school. Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Saffie
Yarrells School & Nursery Page 3 of 8 Friday 10th December 2021
Staff Christmas Wreath Making Ms S Weber
A Christmassy group of staff enjoyed an evening of wreath making last week, courtesy of Mrs Richmond and her artistry.
It was a wonderful session and they enjoyed themselves a lot, as you can see! Thank you, Mrs Richmond.
Early Years & Pre-Prep
Christmas party time! We sang, danced and partied our way through this week
with lots of festive activities, some of which involved painting, sticking and
cutting! On Thursday we had our Christmas party! There was disco dancing,
Rudolph dance routines, musical bumps and a very special visit. Father
Christmas came by to drop off some very special, eco-friendly teddy's which
we loved!
Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas from all the Greenwood staff! We
are so proud of all the children and all they have achieved, we can't wait to
continue their learning journeys next year!
Yarrells School & Nursery Page 4 of 8 Friday 10th December 2021
Year 2 News Ms G Robbins Year 2 have been Buzzzzzzzing around! The children had great fun at our Spelling Bee on Tuesday. They were tested on their high frequency word list and their spellings from this term. All of the children made it through the first 3 rounds, which was brilliant. Kian was the overall winner and Freyja was the runner up. BISH BASH BOSH! Christmas Party time in Year 2 The children had a great time partying on Tuesday. They played Pass the Parcel, Musical Christmas Statues, Flap the Christmas Pudding and Christmas Four Corners. Then, to add to the excitement, the children had a special delivery from Father Christmas of gorgeous cuddly teddy bears. The teddy bears were very excited too because they have a home to go to for Christmas! SENIOR PRODUCTION DATES The Creative Arts Team It is with great excitement we can announce the dates of TWO senior school productions: YEAR 5: Tuesday 22nd March 2022 (Please note this is a later date then first advertised) Year 5 will be performing 'Treachery at Traitor's Quay', a story about an intrepid group of evacuees: can they solve the mystery and find out the identity of the sneaky spy? Yarrells School & Nursery Page 5 of 8 Friday 10th December 2021
YEARS 6 and 8: Thursday 24th March 2022
Year 6 and Year 8 will be performing a joint production of 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'. This
well-loved classic, based on the book by Roald Dahl, is full of fun. All students are being encouraged
to watch it during the holidays.
Times for the performances will be confirmed nearer the time, when we have a greater understanding
of the current situation.
It is important that all students will be in school for these dates, and for the important rehearsals in
the week prior to the performances. If you know that your child will not be here on these days, please
can you let the office know this week, so that I can cast the plays appropriately.
WANTED: Are you, or do you know of any knitters?
I have 12 evacuees and I am looking for someone who enjoys knitting and would like to make some suitable tank tops. I can
provide wool and patterns if needed. Please email the office if you can help out. It would be greatly appreciated - and I
know some people just love to knit!
Yarrells Sport News
Years 5 & 6 Girls Football Tournament - Yarrells, Park and Ballard
Wednesday 1st December
Leilah K (Year 5 Girls A team captain) reports… The Year 5 girl’s football match was a close game against Park School. At first
Park were passing really well, then Marla tackled a Park player and scored, and we were all jumping for joy. After all the
celebrating Park managed to get through our defence and scored but we finished off the game with a 3-1 win thanks to
two great goals scored by Nicole. Poppy played really well in goal too, she saved several shots and stopped Park from
scoring any more goals. Player of the match was Marla. It was an awesome day. Thank you to Mr Williams, Mrs Ingham and
Mrs Wyatt for organising the match!
Martha M (Year 5 Girls B team captain) reports… On Wednesday afternoon, Yarrells Years 5 and 6 girls travelled to Dean
Park football pitch where we played Park School. The Year 5 girls football team played Park school in a good competitive
match. Yarrells kept the ball well during the first half and created numerous chances. Daisy C had some excellent chances
and she almost scored multiple times. The Yarrells defence managed to clear the ball on many occasions using their
powerful kicks. Some excellent saves were made by Sophie G.
The whistle went for the first half. We all jogged into Mrs
Ingham for our half time team talk.
Knowing our game plan, we went out for the second half.
Yarrells started slowly as Park grew more confidently,
scoring two goals. With a late response, Yarrells scored in
the last few seconds of the second half. Some good
football was played. The score finished up Park 2 - Yarrells
1. I was very proud of my teammates, they all worked
really hard, great effort. Well done to Jess T who was
awarded player of the match.
Yarrells School & Nursery Page 6 of 8 Friday 10th December 2021
Zara R (Year 6 Girl’s Football Captain) reports… We started off playing against a physical Park School team. However, Yarrells were up for the challenge and after a fast start we were 3-1 ahead at half time. In the second half we played some lovely football and scored another goal to seal the win 4-1! Goals by Cati and Zara (3). Next, we played Ballard who were an even stronger opposition. We fought hard with some great defending and fantastic saves. However, we were clinical with our chances and possession and took control of the game winning 2-0. Goals by Halle and Zara. We played in the wind, sunshine, rain and a rainbow appeared as we became the tournament winners! Well done Years 6 Yarrells girls! Dear All Just a couple of words before we all break up for a well-deserved Christmas break. We have had yet another fantastic tennis term here at Yarrells. Our players were working very hard to develop superb groundstroke techniques and gain more tactical knowledge on court. We have all made great progress over the last twelve weeks. I am delighted to inform you that nearly eighty children have signed up for our internal Tennis Ladder tournament. Each week from Tuesday to Friday at break time our brave players have been queuing at the Academy courts to compete and move up the Yarrells Ranking List. Children are encouraged to umpire their own courts and follow court etiquette, filling out and signing a scorecard at the end of each match. It has been truly joyous and a real privilege to watch our pupils growing with confidence, demonstrating great awareness of the game and building personal resilience. We have witnessed and recorded over 200 mini tennis matches! Congratulations to our Autumn 2021 ranking leaders: Top Girl – Zara R (Year 6) Top Boy – Paddy G (Year 6) Well done to all children taking part and enjoying playing tennis here at Yarrells. Best of luck next term! May I take this opportunity to say a big thank you for your ongoing support and for making me love teaching tennis in our wonderful school. Merry Christmas everyone! Mr Bujak Yarrells School & Nursery Page 7 of 8 Friday 10th December 2021
UPTON HOUSE JUNIOR PARKRUN POOLE PARKRUN
Sundays at 9am Saturdays at 9am
(Upton Country Park) (Poole Park)
Junior parkrun is a series of 2k runs for children aged A free, fun and friendly weekly 5k community event. Walk, jog,
between 4 and 14. They are open to all, free and are run, volunteer or spectate – it's up to you!
safe and easy to take part in.
https://www.parkrun.org.uk/uptonhouse-juniors/ https://www.parkrun.org.uk/poole/
Yarrells School & Nursery Page 8 of 8 Friday 10th December 2021
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